Interspinous process decompression is used to treat spinal conditions such as lumbar spinal stenosis, a condition in which the spinal canal narrows and may pinch the nerve passing through the canal, or spondylolisthesis, a condition in which a spinal vertebrae is displaced from its proper position.
One method of stabilizing the relative position and separation of two adjacent vertebrae is to clamp the spinous processes of the two vertebrae in position using a pair of plates that are attached to each other.